Teams ready to roar
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Friday August 8, 2014 13:30
Club: Police XI
Position last season: 4
Player to watch: Betsho Pius
Home colours: Maroon and gold
Away colours: Gold and maroon
Home ground: Otse Stadium
Capacity: 2, 000
Coach: Maitumelo Lotlaamoreng
Lotlaamoreng (coach): “We started our pre-season on June 29 and played a tournament in Lesotho. Of course every team wants to finish at the top but we will be satisfied if we can improve last season’s performance. A top four finish will be satisfactory. We have registered 10 players.”
Club: BDF XI
Position last season: 2
Player to watch: Ofentse Mmipi
Home colours: Green and Red
Away colours: White and Green
Home ground: SSKB Stadium
Capacity: 5, 000
Coach: Elijah Chikwanda
Elijah Chikwanda (coach): “It will be tougher this season but we will compete. We will see after the first few games if there is need to bring a few more players. Of course everyone wants to finish number one and we missed last season’s title by a whisker so continuation is key.”
Club: Nico United
Position last season: 5
Player to watch: Gift Moyo
Home colours: Green and gold
Away colours: Gold
Home ground: Selebi Phikwe Stadium
Capacity: 9, 000
Coach: Kenneth Mogae
Blue Same (assistant coach): “We have lost five players but we still think the ones we have can help us go all the way and reach our target. We want to do better than we did last season when we finished at position five. We have registered players among them Trinity Nko, Edwin Mokibe and Mogomotsi Samson.”
Club: Township Rollers
Position last season: 1
Player to watch: Segolame Boy
Home colours: Blue and gold
Away colours: gold and blue
Home ground: National Stadium
Capacity: 22, 500
Coach: Madinda Ndlovu
Bafana Pheto (spokesperson): “Our target is to win every cup that comes our way. We have already taken one step by winning the Kabelano Charity Cup. We believe we are prepared although we are still in the hunt to boost our striking department. We were the first to report for pre-season so in terms of fitness, we believe we have done enough preparation.”
Club: Mochudi Centre Chiefs
Position last season: 4
Player to watch: Tendai Nyumasi
Home colours: Black and white
Away Colours: White
Home ground: National Stadium
Capacity: 22, 500
Coach: Mike Sithole
Clifford Mogomotsi (spokesperson): “Our mandate every season is the same, we want to win the league. We did not perform to our expectation last season although we finished at position four. The Kabelano Charity Cup also showed us some deficiencies in our team and we still have a month to beef up the squad.”
Club: Gaborone United
Position last season: 3
Player to watch: Ntesang Simanyana
Home colours: Red
Away Colours: White
Home ground: National Stadium
Capacity: 22, 500
Coach: Rahman Gumbo
Herbert Letsebe (secretary): “Our target is to win the league and we share the same vision with our coach.
We have had enough time to prepare since reporting for pre-season on June 12. We have been to the High Performance Centre in Potchefstroom, which we believe has improved the level of fitness of our players. Kabelano Charity Cup has also helped us a lot because we managed to identify our weaknesses and correct them before the season starts.”
Club: Extension Gunners
Position last season: 10
Player to watch: Topo Piet
Home colours: Black
Away colours: White
Home ground: New Lobatse Stadium
Capacity: 22, 000
Coach: Dragojlo Stanjlovic
Kitso Dlamini (chairman): “The coach is aware that we would like to win silverware this season and we will give him all the necessary support,” he said at a recent sponsorship launch.
Club: Orapa United
Position last season: 13
Player to watch: Lovemore Murirwa
Home colours: Black and white
Away colours: White
Home ground: Itekeng Stadium
Capacity: 5, 000
Coach: Maxwell Moyo
Tebatso Hule (spokesperson): “We want a top eight finish. Remember last season we started well but midway through, we had a slump. We were still learning since it was our first season in the Premier League. We have tried to beef up the team with players like Patrick Lenyeletse and Lovemore Murirwa.”
Club: Sankoyo Bush Bucks
Position last season: 1 (First Division North)
Player to watch: Basimanebotlhe Moilwa
Home colours: Green
Away colours: White
Home ground: Maun Stadium
Capacity: 1, 000
Coach: Philani Mabhena
Thato Molosi (spokesperson): “Our target is to survive relegation this season thereafter we can aim higher.
We have retained many players who took the team to the Premier League but we have also brought in others with elite league experience. Our preparations started as soon as we got promotion.”
Club: Letlapeng
Position last season: 1 (First Division South)
Player to watch: Patrick Mathaba
Home colours: White and Black
Away colours: Black
Home ground: Otse Stadium
Capacity: 2, 000
Coach: Thaloba Nthaga
Sydney Magagane (chairman): “We are aware that the Premier League will be competitive and we are going to remain focused from the first match.”
Club: BMC
Position last season: 9
Player to watch: Kenanao Kgetholetsile
Home colours: Green
Away Colours: White
Home ground: Molepolole Sports Complex
Capacity: 9, 000
Coach: Daniel Nare
Nelson Radijeng: “Our target is to avoid relegation because we just started pre-season and we have assembled a new team. We let a number of players leave.”
Club: BR Highlanders
Position last season: 2 (First Division North)
Player to watch: Agisanyang Raamabya
Home colours: White and blue
Away Colours: blue
Home ground: Serowe Sports Complex
Capacity: 6, 000
Coach: Paul Moyo
Mokhurutshe Mokhurutshe (chairman): “We came up with a five year plan which was first, to build a team and we did that because we qualified for the Premier League.
The project continues and now we want to sustain our status in the Premier League. Our coach is very good at developing players and is also a good talent scout. That is why we did not want to ditch these players. We just want to beef them up. The only department which is giving us sleepless nights is the strike force but we are working around the clock to sort it out.”
Club: ECCO City Greens
Position last season: 11
Player to watch: Malepa Bolelang
Home colours: Green
Away Colours: White
Home ground: Francistown Stadium
Capacity: 9, 000
Coach: Oupa Kowa
Motlhokomedi Gaetshephe (secretary): “We have a challenge of attracting sponsors but we believe we will still fight. Our main aim is to retain our status in the Premier League. Then we can start thinking about other things.”
Club: Notwane
Position last season: 12
Player to watch: Lemogang Maswena
Home colours: Black and gold
Away Colours: Gold and Black
Home ground: National Stadium
Capacity: 22, 500
Coach: Innocent Morapedi
Kenabetsho Bainame (team manager): “Without a sponsor it is difficult to prepare the team the way we had wanted but we will soldier on.
We have released several players and promoted some from our development side. We are still trying to build, hence we will not be too ambitious. If we finish in the top eight we will be satisfied.”
Club: Motlakase Power Dynamos
Position last season: 8
Player to watch: Lapologang Motlogi
Home colours: Maroon and white
Away Colours: White and maroon
Home ground: Serowe Sports complex
Capacity: 6,000
Coach: Agang Mogotsi
Major Malanga (vice chaiperson): “Our aim is top finish in the top four bracket and we are more than ready for the season.”
Club: FC Satmos
Position last season: 6
Player to watch: Mosimanegape Ramohibidu
Home colours: Green and red
Away Colours: Red and green
Home ground: Selebi-Phikwe Stadium
Capacity: 9, 000
Coach: Kgosietsile Jacob
China Mading (director): “We are ready for the kick off. We might have lost some of our key players but we believe we have found the right replacements. We want to finish on a much higher position this season or at least maintain last season’s position.”